NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Thousands of Middle Tennessee families could lose SNAP benefits as federal funding uncertainty looms, leaving mothers like Cassie McWhirder scrambling to feed their children during the holiday season.
At the Piggly Wiggly in North Nashville, the reality of potential benefit cuts hits close to home. Rose Miller shops there for deals on meat, while longtime cashier Janet McClendon estimates that most families in the underserved community rely on food assistance.
"I say at least 80 out of a 100 most people have food stamps and cards also," McClendon said.
For McWhirder, a mother of four including a two-week-old son, the timing couldn't be worse. Her oldest son's love for superheroes brings joy to their household, but the looming benefit cuts cast a shadow over their daily routine.
"He's got all of them," McWhirder said of her son's superhero collection.
McWhirder learned her food assistance benefits could lapse and relies on them to shop for her three boys and her two-week-old son.
"Especially being the month of Thanksgiving that would be horrible timing. It's starting to get cold outside and I got four kids and they go to different schools one goes to Tennessee School for the Blind and I have a newborn," McWhirder said.
The Tennessee Department of Human Services said unless the federal government reopens, families like McWhirder's can use their October benefits in November but no benefits would be added to their cards starting November 1st.
Gov. Lee said the state can't fund federal food assistance program known as SNAP so McWhirder would be just one of 121,000 people in Middle Tennessee who could go without.
House Democrats are asking Gov. Lee to call a special session so lawmakers can approve emergency funds to help supplement the loss of federal funding.
In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said the state will cover expenses for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
The potential November cutoff represents an unexpected challenge for families already stretching their budgets.
"It would definitely hurt us we'd probably have to get some food bank stuff, call some family members," McWhirder said.
In the underserved North Nashville community, families depend on stores like Piggly Wiggly to feed their children, making the potential benefit loss particularly devastating for local residents.
Want to share your story about how SNAP benefits impact your family? We want to hear from you. Email reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com and watch the full video report to see how local families are preparing for potential benefit cuts.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
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